Centre to take up Karunanidhi snubbing by Malaysian minister

Published: Saturday, December 1, 2007, 5:04 [IST]

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New Delhi, Nov 30 (UNI) External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today assured the Lok Sabha that he would take up with the Malaysian government the issue of its minister Naszri Aziz snubbing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for expressing his pain at the way Malaysian policemen thrashed ethnic Indians on November 25 in Kuala Lumpur.

''Government remains deeply solicitous for the welfare of people of Indian origin living abroad. There is a large community of people of Indian origin in Malysia who are citizens of that country. We have friendly relations with Malaysia and we are in touch with the Malaysian authorities,'' he said during zero hour.

Mr Mukherjee made a suo motu statement in response to a demand for the same by the DMK members who expressed grave concern over the remark of the Malaysian Justice Minister against Mr Karunanidhi yesterday asking him to mind his own business.

''This is Malaysia, not Tamil Nadu..This has got nothing to do with him...lay off,'' the Malaysian minister reportedly said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday about Mr Karunanidhi's complaint about Malaysia's treatment of its Indian minority.

The issue disrupted proceedings in the Lok Sabha today and yesterday with MPs cutting across party lines asking the Centre to take up the issue with the Malaysian government.

He said the government had taken note of the concern expressed by the members regarding the alleged harrassment of participants of the rally organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force in Kuala Lumpur on November 25 to handover a petition to the British High Commission there seeking support of Queen Elizabeth II for a class action suit filed in the UK for the exploitation of Indians who were brought to Malaysia as indentured labour.